Bruce Bartlett on The GOP’s Misplaced Rage

What do we think of Bruce Bartlett? The iconic supply-side domestic policy adviser to President Reagan and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at Treasury under President George H.W. Bush, he began his career working for Ron Paul. He went on to become an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush.

I think conservative anger is misplaced. To a large extent, Obama is only cleaning up messes created by Bush. This is not to say Obama hasn’t made mistakes himself, but even they can be blamed on Bush insofar as Bush’s incompetence led to the election of a Democrat. If he had done half as good a job as most Republicans have talked themselves into believing he did, McCain would have won easily.
Conservative protesters should remember that the recession, which led to so many of the policies they oppose, is almost entirely the result of Bush’s policies. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession began in December 2007—long before Obama was even nominated. And the previous recession ended in November 2001, so the current recession cannot be blamed on cyclical forces that Bush inherited.